Seven Days In the Life of Ari
by Sir Egg of Breakfast
Summary: Seven days in Ari's life. Rated T.
1. Chapter 1

Seven days in the life of Ari:

The first memory Ari has is of being loved. His mother is holding him tight, he is held in her warm arms. The good him, before Jeb leaves him alone with the Whitecoats and before they turn him into a _freak_. But Ari likes this memory because his Mum loves him.

She is the only person, Ari thinks, who has loved him in this way.

A mother's love.

Ari is four years old.

A Whitecoat gave him some crayons earlier. She was smiling at him but her eyes were sad. Ari didn't like that- it confused him.

But he began to draw a picture and he knew it would be the best picture for his Daddy. He couldn't write, not like Daddy could, but he could see the picture in his head and copy it. He drew the lines slowly and carefully, and after five minutes Ari has just as much crayon on his hands as on the paper. He is drawing a house- a house with his Daddy outside it, and his Mummy too even though Daddy said he mustn't think about her anymore. He drew himself too, a wobbly blue square with yellow lines on top.

Fifty minutes later Ari was finished, and he was happy. He looked it over, checking for details. Then he remembered what Daddy did; Ari grabbed the purple crayon and scribbled in the corner. Daddy called it a signature, but Ari couldn't write so this would have to do.

He toddled off, crawling along the floor with stumbling movements. He _would_ show his Daddy his drawing. Most of the Whitecoats ignored him as he crawled past. They were looking into the boxes they had. People lived in the boxes, Ari saw them sometimes. Ari didn't understand it. People should live in houses with a Mummy and Daddy and a doggy if they wanted one. Ari had always wanted a doggy, but he would just be happy to live in a house with his Mummy and Daddy.

He catches sight of his Daddy, down the hall. Ari excitedly wobbles after him, an ungraceful mix of crawling, walking and stumbling.

"Daddy!" Ari shouts happily. He can't wait to show him the drawing! He sees his Daddy, impossibly tall with other whitecoats approach a lab. Heads close together as they discuss something. Ari knows his daddy will turn around any second, and look at the drawing and smile and ruffle his hair and maybe even-

The door swings shut as the men enter.

Ari`s lower lip wobbles. But… they are coming out soon, aren't they? Ari waits and looks at the clock. The big hand is at six, the small hand is at three. Ari can tell the time, something he is proud of. Jeb showed him one day, before his mother disappeared. It was the last happy memory Ari had of them together.

When the big hand reaches eleven, Ari wonders if his Daddy is coming at all.

When the little hand reaches four and the big hand two, Ari sees the lights switch off in the lab.

He leaves the drawing outside, so his daddy can see if he leaves.

It is not until the day after, when Ari finds his drawing carelessly swept in a bin, does Ari cry.

 **This is gonna be a multiple part story, mostly cause I haven't finished writing the other five days yet. Please review. I bring cookies for reviews (::)(::)(::) Oh, yeah, this isn't gonna be a happy story. i reread schools out forever and have a lot of Ari feels and then this fanfic happened so there ya go.**


	2. Chapter 2

Ari is six years old.

He is taller, but only just. He has grown two inches in the last few months. This is good, he thinks. The whitecoat with the crayons taught him the measurements, once. Just as Jeb once taught him the time. Even though he still cannot write.

He walks down a corridor. It is white. It stings Ari`s eyes. Why do the whitecoats not have different colours? Ari thinks it is stupid. The homes in picture books and magazines are bright and colourful, with happy smiling families. But he thinks the labs are less like homes and more like labs.

Homes are full of friends and family. Ari does not have much family left, but he has a friend. Ari smiles as he turns left at the spot beneath the sign he cannot read. He reaches the door and heads in. This is the part of his journey that is hard. He fixes his eyes on the cage at the end and takes a deep breath.

He walks in and the screams start.

Rows of cages stretch across the room. Inside unwashed bodies clamour, mismatched with animals, some with claws and fangs, some with scales, some with limbs where there should not be limbs. They scream for his help.

 _"Help us!"_ Ari takes a deep breath and walks, one foot in front of the other, pretending he cannot hear the desperate voices.

 _"Please!" "Get us out!" "They're hurting us!"_

Ari stares at his shoes and pretends that is all he can see.

 _"Help!" "I want my mummy!"_ Ari knows the last one belongs to a child. A small child, but still, he pretends he cannot hear. He cannot help them, there is nothing he can do. Still, Ari catches a glimpse of a figure, curled up into a ball and staring blankly, making no movement. This is what scares Ari the most. The ones who have given up.

He knows they will end up being fed to Erasers, the huge wolf-demons that scare him. But they will not even try to run, and in some ways, that is the worst thing about the labs, is that they take out hope.

Ari reaches the cage, feeling as though he has walked miles. "Hiya Max." Ari says. Max does not answer at first. Eventually the shouts stop. "Help us, Ari." She asks him this sometimes. Ari is ashamed, but he cannot help. The whitecoats will kill him, or worse, put him in a dog crate. "Max, I-I can't. They'll kill me..." Ari licks his lips nervously, unable to finish. "Figures." Max grumbles.

Ari blinks quickly to keep from crying. Why is she being so mean? He has told her he can't help… She notices his sadness and her look softens. "Sorry, Ari. Look… look what they did to Iggy."

Ari looks, and he knows he will always see this image. Iggy, the blonde bird kid who always smiles at Ari when he comes in has a mess of bloody bandages around his face. Ari thinks he can see bone. Ari`s stomach churns and his eyes stretch wide with horror. Ari does not know if he is dead. "Is he…" Ari does not want to finish. Asking that question would like be admitting it happened, admitting this is not a nightmare he can wake up from.

"No." Max says quietly. "But I don't know how much longer we can do this. I'm just a kid, Ari. Kids aren't meant to live in _freaking… dog… crates!_ " With each of the last three words she violently kicks at the cage. Ari jumps backwards. He does not know how to help Max but he wants to. She is his only friend here.

"I'm sorry Max." Ari says, but he says it so quietly he does not know if she hears.

Ari leaves.

Ari is a day away from his seventh birthday and he is listening to something he shouldn't be.

Ari is scared. His dad is gone and Max is gone and he doesn't know if they are coming back. They have been gone for a long time. Weeks, maybe. There are no colanders around for him to check. He needs to be tough, though, he knows he needs to be as tough as Max and maybe they will come back for him.

So he listens at the door. It started with technical junk –splicing DNA, new hybrid, whatever. Boring science stuff- but Ari hears them mention Dad.

"…So Batchelder is in place, I presume?" The first man sounded like a James Bond villain. Ari imagines him with a suit, stroking a cat. Maybe his dad was like James Bond, saving Max and Iggy and-

"Of course, sir." The other voice was shaky. "How has his report gone on the avian hybrids?" The first voice says, and it sounds impassive. "They seem to be developing normally, sir."

"How so?"

"Well the, uh, wings-"

"Ah, _Wings_. Thank you for pointing that detail out. So glad to know my investments have benefitted you with this knowledge. _Birds have wings_. Bravo." The first voice intones sarcastically, and Ari is glad he is not the man who is talking to him.

The second man falls silent, and the first continues, dominating their conversation. "And our other plan? The Eraser?" Ari shudders. The Erasers scare him more and more. Whispering as he walks past, sharpening claws…

"We- we do, ah, have a test subject, sir. A spot has recently opened up." The second man says. Ari hears the squeak of a chair as the men go to stand. Ari turns to leave.

But an Eraser rises from the shadows, no, it looks like it is part of the shadows; a walking nightmare out to snatch Ari. "Tsk, tsk." The Eraser shakes its head in mock sadness.

"You shouldn't have been listing to that." The Eraser says, but it comes out partly like a growl. Ari shakes with fear as the door opens behind him.

"Sir, this is the subject." The voice of the second whitecoat says to Ari as casually as ticking another item off a list.

Ari can only stand in horror as he realizes what this means.


	3. Chapter 3

Seven Days in the life of Ari Part Three

 **Not gonna lie, this isn't a happy chapter. So, warning.**

Ari is seven years old.

It is his birthday and he stands in front of a mirror.

He is wolfish, hunched over, scars mismatched.

He is a freak.

Too much of an Eraser to be a human. Too much of a human to be an Eraser.

There is a phrase- a face only a mother could love. Well his mother can't love him anymore can she? Dead! Killed to keep Jeb under control. The Whitecoats told him after he screamed for his mother to end the pain.

Tears bunch in Ari`s eyes.

Weak! He is not weak, not anymore. Ari drags a clawed hand down the side of his face, leaving thin read lines. He does this again and again, as though he can claw his own face off and reveal something else, something better underneath.

He knows who will pay.

Jeb. Max. The Flock.

He will kill them, and he will enjoy it.

* * *

Ari is alive.

Every fiber of his being is lit up with the joy of the hunt. He stand with the Erasers, his pack, more of a family than stupid Jeb and Max ever were.

They are in a helicopter, cruising low over Colorado.

It is beautiful and it makes Ari sneer. So this is where Jeb and the winged freaks hid, where they left him. Had fun and didn't think _once_ about him.

Well, time for Ari to crash their party.

The blonde freak was the one they wanted. But Ari didn't care about that; no, he wanted to see Max`s face when they took her, so she would know what it's like. To have your whole life ruined. To have no hope.

And then, when she had seen that, Ari wanted to rip her limb from limb.

He couldn't wait.

* * *

Ari stands in a battle.

He is going to die. He knows it, today or tomorrow, his time will come. Ari is scared. He does not want to die, not like this.

He throws clones over his head, out into the mosh pit. A part of him is awed, he is a superhero, he is Wolverine.

He sees Max snap a Flyboys back and he spins to do the same. But it catches him with a hard punch. Roaring with anger –because nothing will stop him fighting, not now, not today- he rights himself and lunges at his attacker.

But…

But…

A pain spikes through his neck for a second. The code. Oh god. Ari is going to die.

He sinks to his knees.

He sees a figure run towards him, light billowing behind them. Is it an angel? Ari knows nothing of religion, but he hopes it is.

It's Max.

She grabs him under one arm and tries to help him stand. But Ari cannot, he is so tired his limbs may as well be made of lead.

"You hurt? You get shot? Where?" She demands. Ari looks down at his shirt and jacket. No blood. He has not been shot, but he knew that anyway.

"Max?" he asks, confused. He wants to ask why she helped him, even though doing so meant she lost half her family.

He wants to ask if he is forgiven. He wants to ask if she thinks there is anything after dying. He wants to know how to write. He wants to know what happened to the kind Whitecoat who taught him measurements and gave him crayons. He wants to know if Jeb cared.

He wants to ask if it is okay to be afraid.

"I just…" Ari looks up at Max. He sees strength in her eyes, determination. She wants to fight whatever is happening to him. But the fight is good, she will be OK. The Whitecoats did not take her strength.

And in her eyes he sees love. Love for a freak like him.

Ari speaks again, although every syllable is a challenge. "I just… Oh, Max."

Ari can see Maximum Ride. His best friend. His sister. Ari, for the first time in seven hard years, is at peace. He is not afraid of dying with her at his side.

And then Ari Batchelder takes his last breath.

And dies.


End file.
